Clothes Don't Make The Man

Perhaps you've seen the movie "King Ralph", starring John Goodman. Hmmm.... how appropriate that name is. God sure works in mysterious, round about ways.

If you haven't, it's all about a down on his luck Las Vegas entertainer, who after the entire royal family is wiped out in a freak accident, becomes the king of England.

Yet naturally, Ralph had no idea what it means to be a royal. Like everyone else in the world, who only looks at the outward appearances, he thought it was all about dressing up, putting on a show, castles, limos, private yachts and all the other "trappings".

I think I've talked enough about the fact that a true saint, is an absolutely perfect gentleman or gentlewoman, according to the divine nature of absolute, true love's (God's) majestic virtuousness, and that you've seen enough movies, you ought to understand, that a king or queen is all about being the embodiment and shining example for people, of true virtue. A truly dignified, noble, honorable, gracious, graceful, courageous, self-disciplined character. A truly perfect gentleman or gentlewoman.

And here you are, just like Ralph, called to be a king or queen of God's (True Love's) kingdom. Yet just like Ralph, you probably have no idea of what that means and the responsibility that comes with it.

So let me share this snippet from the movie.

RALPH: "What is it that a king does all day?"

CEDRIC: "Scarcely a minute of your day is unaccounted for. Nevertheless, what you do is not as important... as what you are."

RALPH: "What am I?"

CEDRIC: "To be the king of England... is a responsibility like no other on Earth. You must become a symbol... of all that is best about England. An embodiment of our history, our culture, our morality, our pride of achievement. In short, our ideal of civilization. You must, in the harsh light of public scrutiny, exhibit all of our virtues and none of our shortcomings."

RALPH: "I thought all I was supposed to do... was dress up and wave. I don't even know what our virtues are."

CEDRIC: "You will learn soon enough. I'm afraid it's a god's burden to bear. Unfortunately, it must be borne by a man."

PRIME MINISTER: "Good evening, Your Majesty."

CEDRIC: "It's not enough to be king. You must look and ACT like one."

I've also told you, how people are governed and ruled by their instinctual nature and its characteristic pride, vanity, selfish ambition, lust, desire for creature comforts and fear for survival, and that all God (True Love) really wants, is for us to overcome our sinful, instinctual nature and live for love, with all our heart, mind, body and soul (absolutely), by allowing our every thought, word and deed to be governed and dictated by absolute love and its characteristic virtuousness, which makes you "like" a king.

Further along in the movie, Ralph finds it all too hard to manage and abdicates his throne, saying this in an address to parliament.

RALPH: "As happy as I am about all this, it doesn't make up for my shortcomings as a king. I have done my best to learn the ways of royalty, to try to be the kind of king you could be proud of. But I'm afraid my best will never be good enough. Too often, my personal instincts conflict with my obligations. For that reason, I have decided to give up my throne."

I know quite a few people, who have found it all too hard to go against their natural instincts, to be a perfect gentleman or gentlewoman at ALL times and in ALL circumstances, and to let their every thought, word and deed be governed and dictated by true love and virtuousness, and have renounced their thrones. What about you?

In 500 BC, a certain man wrote a list, outlining the ten duties of a king:

1. The ruler should not have craving and attachment for wealth and property, but should give it away for the welfare of the people.
2. A high and moral character.
3. He must be prepared to give up all personal comfort, name and fame, and EVEN HIS LIFE, in the interest of the people.
4. Honesty and integrity. He must be free from fear and favour in the discharge of his duties, must be sincere in his intentions, and must not deceive the public.
5. Kindness and gentleness. He must possess a genial temperament.
6. He must lead a simple life, and should not indulge in a life of luxury. He must have self-control.
7. Freedom from envy, ill-will, enmity. He should bear no grudge against anybody.
8. Non-violence, which means not only that he should harm nobody, but that he should try to promote peace by avoiding and preventing war, and everything which involves violence and destruction of life.
9. Patience, forbearance, tolerance, understanding. He must be able to bear hardships, difficulties and insults without losing his temper.
10. Non-opposition, non-obstruction, that is to say that he should not oppose the will of the people; He should rule in harmony with his people.

As far as I'm concerned, there's only one man who has embodied and carried out these duties more than any other throughout history, Jesus Christ and while you may think that it's just about knowing the letter of the law (scriptures) and reciting them like a parrot, believing in and praising God, the truth is, that it takes much, much more than that, if you truly want to dwell for eternity, in His eternal presence, realm and reality of absolute, true love and majestic virtuousness, and it really doesn't matter who you are, what you wear, what you have or don't have, but HOW you behave.

To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness (virtuousness) of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, BY WHICH have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust (and other instinctual characteristics).2 Peter 1:1-4

Let those who have the ear to hear and eye to see, get the bigger picture...